Danger of Dog Collar Strangulation

Hubby and I have had dogs our whole life and never thought of a dog collar as being dangerous. Our border collie, Sydney, is almost 13 and has worn a collar since we got her as a puppy. Our puppies, Luke and Leia, are 8 months old now and we have had collars on them too. We had a near tragedy tonight that is making us reconsider dog collars.

I arrived home after karate and found Leia in the driveway panting heavily with her collar pulled tight around her neck. She was very scared. I released the collar as quickly as possible; it was hard to get off since it was so tight. Poor thing was so scared! Her hair stood up on her back as she tried to climb in my lap for comfort. From what I can gather, Luke and Leia were wrestling as they always do. They play hard running, biting and wrestling each other to the ground. Luke must have grabbed Leia’s collar and the strap tightened. You can see the large loop that occurred from the collar being tugged on.

We are sooooo fortunate that we came home when we did. Leia is traumatized but okay. She is actually scared of her brother now. I hope over the next few days they will become good friends again.

So what to do about a collar? Our dogs are on an invisible fence system so they need to wear a collar. What I have found so far is that PetSafe makes a KeepSafe Breakaway Dog Collar. When too much pressure is applied, the buckle breaks away. This prevents strangulation. The downside would be a missing collar and PetSafe receiver.

I would love to hear feedback from you all. What type of collar do you use for your dog? have you had issues with collar strangulation?

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.